dogs: 1, raccoons: 0

Well, I think we have now officially baptised this place as a Country Home. Or something.

The dogs have been here for two months now. Not just one dog. FOURTEEN dogs. LARGE dogs. Dobermans. You would think there would be enough dog scent around the place to keep an ARMY of raccoons away.

But no.

Just about ten minutes ago -- deep dusk here, not quite dark -- I heard some of the dogs barking. And barking. It was about their dinner time anyway, so I called them in. One (Buffo) absolutely would NOT come in. He was very intent on something, and kept running around an outbuilding very close to the house. I was afraid he might be after one of the feral cats that sometimes stay in the shed part of that building, so I went out to see.

When I got outside, he was shaking something. I thought for sure he had gotten a cat. But it got away from him, and I could see it was actually an adult raccoon. In fact, the raccoon starting going after Buffo -- and started backing Buffo down the parking area.

At that point, I let Squirt out. Squirt weighs about 150 pounds. A couple of the other dogs also got back out at the same time, but I knew Squirt would do the job.

The raccoon ran under the van. The dogs went under the van after it. It came out. Squirt and Buffo stretched the coon between them. It was all over.

Now, I do NOT like killing things without a good reason. I was a vegetarian for 23 years. I still don't eat any meat aside from fish. I believe in exclusion, not elimination. BUT -- as I said, these dogs have been here for two months now. You would think a sensible coon would have noticed the dog scent and the sound of big dog feet. There was no way for me to catch that coon, and though I might have been able to get Buffo off of it, I think that would have exposed both of us to more danger of injury. Additionally, I really didn't want a raccoon hanging around that thought it could beat up my dogs! (I should mention at some point that all of this is taking place within a very large fenced area -- five foot chain link, roughly an acre or so. I'm not just letting the dogs out loose!)

So anyway -- the world now contains one less raccoon. Squirt and Buffo have been rewarded with antibiotics, hotdogs, and supper. It'll be interesting to see if any other coons are dumb enough to challenge the new residents of this place!